Residents speak out about I-26 widening plan at DOT meeting

More than 160 people curious about a proposed project to widen Interstate 26 attended an informational workshop Thursday at the WNC Agricultural Center.

By Emily WeaverTimes-News Staff Writer

More than 160 people curious about a proposed project to widen Interstate 26 attended an informational workshop Thursday at the WNC Agricultural Center. The N.C. Department of Transportation held the session to gauge public interest on plans that have been blocked by critics in the past. Most people were in favor of the measure to calm the already troubled transportation route, which the DOT estimated could host a daily stream of more than 90,000 motorists by 2040. Others were against any expansion that may encroach on their land, contribute to urban sprawl or bring more noise to an already noisy corridor.DOT Division Engineer Joel Setzer said the 50-year-old interstate has been rehabilitated twice. “The ride quality is slowly deteriorating,” he said. “I see the day approaching when we’ll have to renovate the lanes and I would like to do (that with) the widening all at one time.”The $264 million project would involve a multi-lane widening of 22.2 miles of I-26 from the Upward Road exit/U.S. Highway 25 in East Flat Rock to I-40 in Buncombe County, and an overhaul of overpasses.Between 45,000 and 80,000 or more cars travel the busy interstate on an average day outside of tourist season, said Undrea Major, project development engineer for DOT. The steady flow of cars has led to traffic snarls, but relieving the congestion has been stalled by those who said the money would be better spent elsewhere or that widening would harm the environment.The DOT planned to build a new interstate interchange to relieve traffic at Clear Creek Road that would have bulldozed an office park and part of Patton Park to bring people down the newly widened Asheville Highway in 2000. It sparked a public outcry, however, and the plans were shelved.A few years later, local leaders urged DOT to use the money instead to widen I-26 in Henderson County. That plan was halted in 2003 when U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle sided with environmentalists in a lawsuit to block the project, saying state law required DOT to study its environmental impact.Residents crowded around maps Thursday to get a look at the expansion plans. “I think it’s definitely needed and I think it’s important that we do this for our future,” said Lorraine Riewerts. “It’s been in the works for a while and it’s due; it’s very due,” said her husband, Berney Riewerts.The two are regular travelers on I-26 and say they have seen the traffic grow “more and more” since they moved to Etowah 14 years ago.“It should have been done 10 or 15 years ago,” said John Forehand of Arden, who travels the interstate every day on his way to work in Greer, S.C. “Most days I-26 is like a rolling parking lot.”“We need a third lane on each side,” he said, adding that the corridor could also use another exit between Four Seasons Boulevard (exit 49) and Fletcher (exit 44) to alleviate congestion from traffic accidents. He has been caught in the five-mile, no-exit land of no return before, he said, trapped in traffic snarled for an hour-and-a-half due to a collision that blocked both lanes. But Julie Mayfield, executive director of WNC Alliance, an environmental group that joined others in the lawsuit against the DOT a decade ago, quizzed officials on how they would widen the lanes. “Cannibalizing the medians” may have less of an environmental impact than expanding outward, she said.“We’ll have to wait a little bit longer and see what they’re going to do,” she added.Traffic congestion can lead to problems with air quality, so expansion could help in that regard, Mayfield said. “What we know about highway widenings, though, is that they can also induce more demand on the highway,” she said, and more demand can lead to “sprawl.”Uncontrolled growth can be hazardous to an environment’s health, she said, and widening isn’t always the best answer.Major said sprawl and growth can be limited by a city’s or county’s land development plans. “We’re building to accommodate for traffic that’s already going to come,” he said. “At some point in time we need to determine are we going to be ahead of the curve in accommodating that traffic, or do we let it get out of hand?”Deborah Henderson, whose land in Fletcher may be needed for the expansion of the interstate, said she was for it. “I’m totally okay with it,” she said, adding she would be happy to sell her land for future travelers. “I travel a lot of weekends to Tennessee and coming back I notice how congested it is ... especially on a weekend, it’s crazy. To me, it’s a win-win situation.” DOT officials told inquirers that any definite plans on exactly where the corridor will expand outward instead of inward have not yet been decided, but they have earmarked $5 million for right-of-way purchases. Starling Underwood of Fletcher was filling a comment form with his concerns. His house lies 400 to 500 yards from the noisy interstate.“My main concern is ... how much they’re going to expand and if they’re going to build a sound barrier,” he said. “We’ve tried to sell the house before and when people come look at it, (they say) it’s too noisy.”Concerned that the extra lanes would bring more noise, he said he and his neighbors “would like a sound barrier.”The DOT has been studying the project since fall of 2012. Officials plan to draft an environmental impact statement in 2015 and host a public hearing in the winter of 2016. Construction of the project would not begin until 2020.Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.